Souls are Friends, not Food
by SabastianScott
Summary: Not many would react normally to being in an abandoned warehouse with a scythe-wielding mad scientist. Not many are named Mai Taniyama. Then again, she also has a blade coming out of her arm, so she's probably safe. Now if Yasu would just wake up from his unconscious state, we might be able to explain things before Naru blows his top. Or faints. Whichever comes first.
1. Chapter 1

**I said I wouldn't. I suck at listening to myself. **

**So now, I have a Soul Eater-Ghost Hunt crossover. Great.**

**I don't own either wonderful series.**

_**Souls**_

From the start I was suspicious. The case was just weird. It just kept getting more elaborate, almost like they were making it next to impossible to say no to. Still, it ended up with Naru, Yasu, and myself checking it out anyway.

It was at an old warehouse, apparently. The walls from the outside looked to be weak metal, and yet it almost seemed staged. Like it might be stronger than it looked. Or maybe I was just intimidated by its large size, if the size of the girl I couldn't quite make out in the image was anything to go by. There was also the fact that, while the road we were currently looked fairly new, it almost seemed to lead straight to the warehouse like a long driveway. There wasn't any other buildings or signs of civilization amongst the dense forest of trees that lined the entire ten mile drive from the main road. Heck, we almost missed the turn to this road, it was just obscure. Then it again, it might have just been that we really shouldn't have let Yasu drive. Ever.

Not that we had a choice. Lin was freaking sick, and that was all because Monk came in with a flu that I had caught earlier and had given to him. He proceeded to give everyone the flu, except for Yasu and Naru. Yasu, because he was gone at the time and I did thorough cleaning and sanitation after I got better, and Naru… Well, I speculate that it's because he probably scared the sicknesses away, to which he scowled when he heard my theory. And since I was already sick earlier, I didn't get sick again. But that left Monk getting Ayako and Lin sick, then Lin gave Madoka his diseases and Ayako pressed hers upon Masako, literally hugging the girl until she started sneezing, claiming that if she was to be sick, she was _not_ going to be the only girl sick. I wasn't an option, so Ayako just substituted with Masako. This was, of course, before we realized Madoka was sick. In turn, Masako ended up getting John sick, since he drove her home that day.

Let's just say when SPR gets sick, they get _sick_. And I could have sworn I had gotten a flu shot this year. Naru wasn't pleased with me regardless since I kinda was the catalyst to getting everyone else sick (though I had honestly thought I wasn't contagious and my sickness was over).

That left three capable investigators to a case we already agreed to before everyone had started sneezing out their brains. I wasn't there the day they accepted the case because of aforementioned sickness, but if I was I definitely would have protested beyond all belief. This case just waved banners of suspicion in my face.

There was a week delay before we could go, due to road work apparently (which might explain the good state of the road here, despite its location), and all that week I tried to convince Naru to change his mind. Even so, he said that although we can legally decline after accepting, he wasn't someone to go back on his word.

Heck, I resorted to even to actually admitting that this was my _instinct_ speaking, and yet he hardly cared. His excuse was that I was recently sick—physical things can affect psychic abilities to some degree, and that if my instinct was up to par this well, why the heck did I not avoid a sickness. I didn't want to admit that Keiko threw up all over me when I reluctantly escorted her to the nurse the day I was an hour late—a legitimate excuse for once on my lateness—and that's why I was sick, so I just backed down all together. It was plainly obvious I didn't want this case, but I just dealt with it and pouted while giving Naru a semi-silent treatment and making his tea a little sweeter than he usually liked. You know, like an adult.

Now, for why Yasu was driving… he technically wasn't street legal, but he looked it, and he had more driving experience than me and Naru combined. Plus, worse came to worse, he could probably charm his way out.

Naru and I quickly learned there is a very, very good reason _why_ Yasu had never been given a license.

I'm pretty sure Naru and I were both on the agreement that, if we made it out alive, he would demand less tea and I would stop trying to poison him via sugar overdose. We didn't even say anything, it was just communicated between us as we finally left the city of Tokyo out into the country side and passed the last house that could offer us assistance if we crashed. I had looked despairingly out the window, as did Naru, and then our eyes connected, and we basically had a conversation with our eyes to make out our agreement in three seconds flat before returning out attention to surviving the car ride.

We did eventually stop, and for that I am thankful. And if you think for a second that Yasu is unaware of his bad driving, you should have seen the look on his face as he asked, "So how was my driving? I was trying to pay attention to the road, but Mai, you did kinda scream when we were near that cliff. Were you scared?" I swear, Naru and I had the same expression on our faces at that moment.

Quickly we unloaded ourselves from the van, slamming the door behind us as we got used to safe, nonmoving, non-Yasu-driven land. I tried to remove thought that Yasu would have to drive us around this entire trip and would probably be our ride home, instead filling it with the thoughts that there was a chance that Monk, a safe, responsible driver, might be well enough to join us later. Then I remembered that it was Lin that had the directions here, and if he didn't get well, the rest of SPR wouldn't be coming any time soon.

The warehouse looked just as it did it the picture. Ivy strung itself up the walls as a gateway to other plants that grew near, on, or maybe in the warehouse. There was certainly enough holes, though the holes that were close enough to reach were only big enough for maybe a dog at most to fit through, the bigger ones not until what was probably the catwalk level and the roof. Rust covered the once somewhat nice metal sides, and I briefly entertained the thought that we may be disturbing the animals that no doubt took residence here. Did this place even have separate rooms? Or anything in it? We were assured we'd have electricity, but I was doubtful.

Regardless, we went through the old door. I was reluctant and Yasu pretty much dragged me in. For now we just wanted to see what the place looked like before bothering with the equipment. We assumed, of course, that the equipment was safe, seeing as Naru is kinda paranoid about his equipment when it's being put into moving vehicles.

If he gets info out of its destruction (like in the fire at Yasu's school) or if it was sacrificed to a bookshelf in order to keep an idiot girl safe (and can then use said idiot girl for free labor), then Naru doesn't actually give a damn.

If he can't get any info other than 'Never let Yasu drive' or 'We probably should have used the unpoppable bubble wrap' out of the equipment's destruction, then he actually kinda cares.

The inside of the warehouse is basically a walled-in impression of the outside of it. There was about as much grass peeking through. I wouldn't care if I was murdered and tortured here—I would have just left here and haunted a high school or something. Like Japan doesn't have enough haunted high schools as is.

Of course, we hadn't even been inside of here for more than maybe five seconds before the door slammed shut behind us.

We quickly turned. No one there.

"Well," Yasu chuckled nervously, "this is a haunted warehouse, right?" He looked desperately at me. "Mai, this your cue to say that this place isn't haunted."

Just because the universe just loves jump scares, my voice wasn't the next one to speak. "This place isn't haunted," the familiar voice said.

And no, it was not Naru. Nor was it Yasu. No, this voice belonged to someone new. A certain doctor. An insane doctor.

I quickly turned to where I could see him in the shadows, before unnoticed in the bad lighting plus short time of evaluation. Then again, he was also just emerging from his hiding place, rolling chair and all. "Professor Stein," I greeted.

"You seem to be doing well," the stitched doctor replied back. "Though I wasn't intending to drag your friends here, it would be rude to not introduce us."

"Oh, right," I almost laughed. Almost. My nerves were too high-strung and didn't dare look away from the man. I gestured to the slightly scared Yasu. "This is Osamu Yasuhara. Preferably called Yasu." I then gestured to Naru, who stood there suspicious and ready for whatever was about to come. If only he knew. "This is Kazuya Shibuya, but we call him Naru."

Stein raised an eyebrow. He knew just as well as I did who the man beside me was. "I see," he said slowly. "I guess I'll introduce myself. I'm Doctor Franken Stein. I'm Mai's teacher."

"Mai's teacher?" Naru questioned.

"Er, you know how I said that I stayed with a teacher for a while after my mother's passing? He's that teacher," I said. "Though I'm not sure why he's here." The last statement was obviously weighted.

"Ah, that," Stein said. "Since you are still technically an academy student, albeit under some special circumstances right now, we still need to test you periodically. That's why we summoned you here."

"Then why didn't you send a letter or something instead of dragging my friends with me. You know, like a sane person?" I said. "Oh, wait, I forgot who I was talking to."

"Real cute," Stein said back. "Don't worry, if it's that big a deal we can erase their memories or something."

"Erase memories?" Yasu said as he and Naru flinched slightly.

"Oh, it doesn't hurt," Stein said, his glasses catching the light as he smiled lightly.

"But it tastes awful," another voice joined in. I risked looking from Stein to locate the new voice. Death Scythe, AKA Spirit, was up in the crumbling catwalk. "That's the only thing I do remember about it."

"Well, it's not like you're supposed to remember," Stein reminded.

"If he's here," I indicated to the red-haired man above us and to the right, "then I'm guessing this is a physical exam. Though it would make more sense to use Marie, wouldn't it?"

"Marie is pregnant, mind you," Stein said. "Besides, Spirit's been your teacher longer, and it's been so long since any of us saw you. Marie didn't mind staying back in favor of Spirit."

"Right," I said. "Almost forgot. But it's not my fault about my situation. Blame that idiot partner of mine."

"I resent that," yet another voice joined in. I didn't have to look to know that there would be a boy practically formulating from the shadows with short brown hair that looked a heck of a lot like me. "In case you forgot, _partner_, this was partially your fault too."

"Mei," I said, meeting familiar brown eyes.

"Mai," he said, equaling my stoic gaze with one of his own. Then we both split into smiles. "Nice to see you're doing fine."

"Same," I said.

"I hate to interrupt the reunion," Death Scythe said as he jumped from the impossible height but landing without injury on the ground, much to Yasu's and Naru's astonishment, "but we do need to test you today."

"Yasuhara, Shibuya," Mei said, going past Stein's side of the dark warehouse to join me. "I would suggest getting somewhere safe and being prepared to move quickly."

The two guys seemed to just be going with it, too shocked and curious to disagree. They probably thought this would be some sort of martial arts match or something. Oh how they would be wrong. Nevertheless, the quickly moved to the sides.

"Alright, as we know you two are independent without need of a partner, like Justin Law," Stein said as we all grimaced at Justin's name. "However, due to your similar wavelengths, you make a strange partnership of being able to depend on each other if needed, filling the roles of Meister and Weapon as needed. Not unlike Death Weapons the Thompson Sisters, if Kid can't be there, to be honest. Since you both were eligible, you went after two witches and now can't seem to fully reach either Weapon or Meister abilities, making you completely independent. Of course, she was unaware that you both usually worked like that and was swiftly defeated along with her partner witch. However, due to their spell you two can't become Death Scythes until we can break it."

"Yeah, you're stating the obvious," Mei said. I rolled my eyes at him.

"I was sent to Japan to separate from Mei and see if that fixed it, but it didn't. Then the whole Kishin thing came to be and I was stranded here," I continued. "But now that's over, isn't it?"

"Yes," Death Scythe said. "And we may be able to break the spell soon. However, testing for students is before then, and so we have to test you as is, no exceptions."

"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked.

"Come on, let's get started," Mei said, almost tiredly. He really hasn't changed much.

"Alright then. See if you can beat me," Stein said, standing up from his chair and kicking the rolling object away. "Spirit?" he said to the scythe.

"Ready," he said before he glowed and transformed. Before he was even fully transformed Mei and I had made mirror-image battle stances and called forth our own scythes. The glow of transformation shined away sharply on all three of us at the same time.

I ignored what the two guys on the sidelines yelled. Thankfully, they seemed to realize that they really should keep their distance and didn't try to come out here. Still, they seem distressed.

Stein wasted no time to start, charging forward with Death Scythe. Mei and I ran forward, splitting up as Stein struck Death Scythe down where we both were a second ago. Mei and I rejoined behind him, calling out blades on our feet as we both tried to strike-kick Stein from behind. Of course, Stein dodged quickly, trying to slash us. He succeeded in separating Mei and myself from our in-sync fighting. Mei crouched below to avoid the swing while I had leapt up, retracting my foot blades and ending of on top of Death Scythe's blade.

I quickly jumped up and behind as Mei's still-out blade tried to slice out Stein's feet. Stein jumped and dodged, jumping back quickly, causing Mei to be between myself and the professor.

Stein paused for a moment as he started to move the screw that went through his head as Mei and myself stood up and ready. "Hmph, I'm not disappointed," he said as his screw clicked into place. "I won't go easy then."

With that, he charged again, this time aiming just for Mei. I knew he was expecting me to attack while he was distracted. So I didn't. Instead, I rushed like I was going to but instead heading straight to the shadows when he was distracted by the close up fight with Mei. I quickly retracted my blades and found my way up to the catwalk, much to Naru's astonishment as Yasu looked steadfast at the fight. I smiled and held a finger to my lips. Reluctantly, Naru brought his attention away from me to the fight in front of him.

The two guys separated again, both jumping back from each other. Stein immediately noticed my absence, as did Mei, and Stein immediately closed his eyes to try to find my soul. Mei quickly and quietly went in to attack. Unfortunately, Death Scythe noticed a bit too late. "Stein, look out!" he yelled, but it was too late. Stein's eyes snapped open as Mei was an inch from slashing a new scar into his face. Stein was barely able to dodge.

I took this chance of distraction. I jumped down, and Stein moved quickly to dodge my blades from my legs using Death Scythe's blade. I stood there, crouching to look straight into Stein's face. "Checkmate, Professor," I said. Before there was time to react, one of Mei's blades was at Stein's throat. Stein assessed the situation and smiled.

"Indeed, checkmate," he said as we all simultaneously relaxed our positions. "You guys win. Of course, if that was a real fight, I could have easily gotten out of that."

That was true. And despite what Stein said, he was kinda going easy on us. Oh well. I will not question a victory. At least, not this one.

Yasu and Naru walked, or more like stumbled, over to where we stood. They were shocked as they both stood in front of us.

"I've decided this is a dream and Yasu crashed the car and I'm currently in a coma," Naru said with an almost dreamy haze to his voice.

"Don't blame me," Yasu argued in a similar daze. "Mai probably screamed too loud and jerked the wheel straight off the cliff."

"Hate to break it to ya," Death Scythe said as he came out of weapon form, "but this isn't a dream."

"Your friend here is more than you thought," Stein said, indicated towards me. "She's not only one soul away from being a weapon used by Lord Death himself, but also an excellent student of the DWMA along with her twin brother Mei."

"DWMA?" Yasu asked.

"Death Weapon Meister Academy," Mei and I said at the same time.

"I can't do this," Yasu said as he fainted.

Naru just looked at the boy at his feet for a moment before looking me straight in the eyes. "You better start explaining fast."


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, I'm too sick to focus on much else, and the internet is being weird, and I felt like working on this for some reason. So, let's get started, shall we?**

**Sorry if the characters are slightly OOC in this story. But imagine if you parents suddenly turned their arms into blades and sliced the heck out of your school principal. I'd imagine that's more or less what the reaction would be.**

**Lord Death is in charge, not his son. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then don't worry about it.**

**I don't own either of these amazing series. **

**Enjoy?**

_**SOULS**_

Stein unlocked the warehouse door, Death Scythe trailing along after him. Naru walked next to me as Mei made up the back as he dragged an unconscious Yasu to give him fresh air.

"So, Mr. Shibuya," Stein said, an almost undetectable mocking tone in his voice. "Do you want to forget this happened right now? Or do you want some answers?"

"Answers, preferably," Naru said. The shock had more or less worn off of him. At least, for now.

Death Scythe decided to start us out. "Humans have souls, right? Well, there are some out there that eat those souls. Those who are like that are demons that we call Kishin."

"More accurately, Kishin Eggs," Stein continued. "Though usually, it's easier to call their souls Kishin Eggs, just for clarification in soul conversations."

"Soul conversations?" Naru asked.

"Easier to just wait and see what we're talking about than explain," I said.

"Continuing on with our story," Death Scythe interrupted. "These Kishin Eggs are no longer considered human, and go onto Lord Death's list."

"Lord Death?" Yasu said. Oh, so he regained consciousness.

"Oi, how long have you been awake?" Mei asked.

"About when you dragged me through the door. I was just lazy."

Go figure.

"To answer Yasuhara's question," Stein said, "Lord Death is exactly that. Lord Death. He manages souls and all matters involving death. At least, that's what I gather. I've never exactly asked him what he does."

"Regardless, if a soul is on his list, it means that it is to be killed as soon as possible," Death Scythe said. "There are those among humans who are like me, Stein, and those twins over there. Meisters and Death Weapons."

"Henceforth, Death Weapon Meister Academy. Lord Death is the headmaster," Mei explained. "A Death Weapon is someone who can transform into a weapon, though we are sometimes also called Demon Weapons. A Meister is someone who can control a Weapon. Do you follow?"

Naru and Yasu, who had at some point gotten up off the ground, nodded their heads.

"You mentioned witches earlier," Naru said. "Care to explain."

"Witches are exactly that, witches. And not a whole lot are nice," I said. "Actually, Weapons are a product of witch experimentation. All witches, with very, very few exceptions, are on Lord Death's list. Of course, just because you can use magic, doesn't mean you're a witch…"

"Ah, Blair!" With that, Death Scythe went into one of his little… episodes. To which Stein somehow ran over Death Scythe with his rolling chair until Death Scythe had somewhat collected himself.

"Did I miss something while I was away?" I asked. "Wait, is Blair that cat that Mei was telling me about in his letters? The one that transforms into a human and likes blowing stuff up with some pumpkin spell thing?"

"The very same," Mei groaned. Neither of us had been very involved with the Spartoi group of the DWMA, but everyone knew who they were and near everyone knew about the magic cat with a tendency for not wearing clothes while in human form.

"Continuing on," Naru hinted.

"Right, so witches are hunted and so are the Kishin Eggs. We, er, collect their souls and when we have ninety-nine Kishin souls and one witch soul, that weapon becomes one of Lord Death's own personal weapons," I finished out.

No way was I explaining that we collect souls usually by eating them. No way in heck.

"How do you 'collect' souls?" Yasu asked.

Dammit.

The four of us, as in a now collected Death Scythe, Professor Stein, Mei, and myself, looked at each other for someone to explain.

"Well," Mei said. "There's different ways of doing it. Like, if we use the Thompson sisters for an example…"

"Oh right!" Death Scythe said. "Don't they collect their souls by loading them in their magazine or whatever?"

"If by magazine you mean the part where the bullets usually go, then yes," Mei said.

"Wait, so do they not have bullets?" Yasu asked.

I groaned. "This is where it gets complicated," I said. "To put it in the simplest terms possible, souls have wavelengths, or a sort of energy that they give off. In order for a meister and weapon pair to work, their soul wavelengths have to match. If you're a gun like the Thompson sisters—not that I know anyone else who _is_ a gun—then you shoot out your meister's condensed soul wavelength… or something like that."

"That is exactly correct, but how did you know?" Stein asked.

"Please, like anyone was paying attention to class when that fight was going on. So we heard quite a bit of what happened, and then I told Mai about it in one of our letters," Mei said.

"Fight?" Naru asked.

"Fights are allowed at the DWMA, but they must be supervised by a professor," Death Scythe explained.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Yasu said. "So there's a school that's headed by a Lord Death where kids who can turn into sharp and deadly weapons and kids who can control said sharp and deadly weapons come together and collect souls of some sort of demon or from witches? Oh, and they can fight if some person is watching?"

"You forgot the 'Lord Death's personal weapon' and the soul wavelengths part, but that' pretty much the gist of it," Mei said.

"If that's the case, then we definitely drove off a cliff," Yasu said, to which Naru silently seemed to agree.

"Not that it matters anyway," Professor Stein said. "You're going to forget soon anyway." Stein started searching through his coat, at first with a level of certainty, but then more frantically.

"What's wrong, Stein?" Death Scythe asked.

"I can't find the damn bottle," the stitched professor muttered as he searched through continuously. "If I don't have that medicine, then I have to go back to the lab and get it."

"But that's all the way back in Nevada, so wouldn't their memories be non-erasable by the time you got back?" Mei said.

"Not if these two came with me, no," Stein said, before giving up his fruitless search.

"Well," Death Scythe said, "who's up for a trip to America?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Yeah, I'm updating stuff. It's a miracle, I know.**

… **But seriously? I haven't updated since MARCH?! Of last YEAR?!**

_**SOULS**_

It turns out that 'Yasu' and 'planes' do not mix. He still looked pale and ill an hour after landing, but that's probably how Naru and I looked when he drove, so I found it somewhat justified.

After assuring Naru that his van and equipment would (probably) be okay in the woods for a few days, so long as none of the others try to investigate where we were. Hopefully, they'll be sick for a while longer. At least until we've had a memory swipe done and over with. Naru and Yasu seemed to mildly snap out of it towards the end of the plane trip and started acting startled. We had to explain everything all over again very clearly, but after a while we just agreed to answer their questions once we got the memory stuff from the lab. They were still a little surprised and probably wouldn't snap out of it until after a good night's sleep. Then we'll get to explain it again. Fun.

With Yasu and Naru having survived the plane trip and the two hour drive here, we now stood at the entrance to Death City. "Wow," Yasu said, looking much better than he did before. "This is where you're from, Mai?"

"Well, we were originally from Japan, sorta, but both Mei and I were mostly raised here, and we wanted to go here. There is a Japanese branch as well," I said as we entered the city.

"Why didn't the Japanese branch test you, then?" Naru asked, referring to the fight from earlier yesterday.

"Because that would involve Azusa, and that would be cruel," Death Scythe said.

"Besides," Professor Stein added, "they attend this school, not that one."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Yasu asked as he took in the sights.

"My lab," Professor Stein said, and I could have sworn that Death Scythe gave a slight shudder at the thought.

We came to a building that was blocky and just as covered in stitches as the owner was. "Come in," he said as he rolled forward on his chair. How he even got that from here to Japan and back puzzles me, now that I actually think about it, but some things about Professor Stein were better left unsaid.

Mei and I had no hesitation sitting on the couches inside while Yasu and Naru were a bit hesitant, but also compliant. Death Scythe just stood stiffly near the door.

"So," Professor Stein called out as he went through the various rooms and bookshelves looking for his memory concoction. "When we find this stuff that'll 'fix' your memories for us, don't take it right away. Take it once you are back in Japan, preferably either in a familiar place or back at that 'haunted site' we set up."

"…Alright," Naru said with some hesitation as he watched the man walk through the rooms. He apparently knew that if he wanted to argue about it, he shouldn't do it while in a room with a bunch of scalpels and questionable liquids.

"Mai doesn't have to take the memory eraser stuff, right?" Yasu said.

"Well, no, but she's not going back to Japan," Death Scythe said.

"Say what now?" I asked. "When was I going to be informed of this?"

"We knew that you would resist coming back, so we didn't tell you until now," Professor Stein said, his voice slightly muffled through the wall.

"How are we supposed to explain where she went to the others if we had our memories wiped out?" Yasu said. "Besides that, I'm not going back without her there."

"I'm afraid it's not your choice," Death Scythe said.

"But it is hers," Naru said. "Mai," he addressed to me, "if you want to stay, I won't stop you. Can't actually. But if you want to go back with us-"

"Not an option," Professor Stein said, coming back with a piece of paper in his hand. It had a Lord Death skull symbol on the back. "As much as I'd like to destroy your dreams more, we need to go to the DWMA."

"Eh? Why?" Mei and I asked together.

"It appears Lord Death has my memory potion. Don't know why, but we'll go there, get it back, get those two on a plane, and continue lessons as usual," Stein said, waving the paper around.

It was about when we got to the bottom of the staircase that Naru and Yasu realized they were in way over they're heads.

"We have to go up all of these?" Yasu asked, his glasses almost slipping off.

"You haven't been slacking with me gone, have you?" Mei asked me as he ignored Yasu.

"Of course not, brat," I said.

"Race?"

"Race."

With that, we crouched down, counted to three, then ran up the steps. I focused on getting past Mei, not tripping, and staying aware in case of students or other obstacles, such as thrown students or students in weapon form.

Ah, DWMA, how I've missed you!

_**SOULS**_

Mei can tell you whatever he wants. I beat him, fair and square. The pigeons agree, I'm sure. They know who scared them first. By their presence, I know that the rather infamous Black*Star hadn't shown up in at least an hour or two.

We both waited as the others slowly came up. Seeing as neither of us twins were going to give any assistance to the two who had never been here before, our teachers had to help them up. I think Stein was dragging Yasu at one point, but I could be wrong.

"You… Did…. _This_… Every…. Day…?" Yasu panted as they got to the top. He nearly collapsed on the ground, heavily leaning on the handrail for support. "Just… For… School…?"

Naru, well, he didn't look a whole bunch better, but he at least attempted to hang on to his composure and pride as he practically died with Yasu going up a staircase that was impossibly high… in the middle of a desert, at that.

Yasu suddenly perked up a bit as he looked at Mei and me. "Hey… which of you…. Is which…?"

We got tired of waiting, and so Mei and I changed into our uniforms that matched. Mei and I's hair was about the same length, and we both pulled it into a tiny ponytail. Quite frankly, we both looked like boys. Or maybe girls. Mei can be girlish sometimes, though I can no longer tease him about his fear of spiders…

"Ah, yes, this act," Professor Stein drawled. He was never fond of the fact that we could just switch places. "Mai, would you wear a skirt already? At least over your pants or something?"

He was, of course, trying to address me, but he addressed Mei by accident. Mei and I both started snickering.

"I addressed the wrong twin, didn't I?" Professor Stein groaned.

More snickers.

"That you did, my friend," Death Scythe patted his meister partner on the shoulder. "That you did."

"What on earth… Are you wearing…?" Naru asked, still a little breathless.

He, of course, was referring to our uniforms. With black shoes, blue jean pants, pale yellow shirts with Lord Death's symbol, black jackets, and orange and black hats, Mei and I's uniform was identical, if not possibly needing an upgrade for the next school year. "Our school uniform," Mei and I said in sync.

Yasu looked slightly baffled between the two of us. He was having identification issues. Also, speaking in unison and giggling was creepy… Which is exactly why we did it.

Fun times.

Death Scythe sighed and patted Yasu's shoulder. "Get used to the act, kid. Trust me," he told Yasu, almost mimicking his earlier moment with Professor Stein.

"Let's head in, now that our guests have caught their breathes," Professor Stein said, leading the way into the building.

We went after him into the labyrinth-like halls. "Where are we going, sir?" Naru said.

"Lord Death's room, of course. He should have that memory serum," Professor Stein said. He stopped and smiled creepily at Naru and Yasu, glasses glinting in the light. "This should be fun. I wonder what he'll think of you two."

Death Scythe looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hm… They aren't weapons as far as I can tell… and they don't seem to have the attitude for a meister…"

"We're not students," Naru pointed out, "so shouldn't that be irrelevant to the case at hand?"

Professor Stein looked at him. "Even so, he'll be getting a good look at you. I've been resisting for the most part, seeing as you two are neither students nor threats…"

Yasu shifted his weight nervously. "What do you mean by 'getting a good look' at us?"

Professor Stein, Death Scythe, Mei, and I exchanged looks before looking at Naru and Yasu again.

"Did we forget to tell you?" Mei and I said in sync.

Death Scythe put one hand on his hip and the other on his chin. "I think we did."

"What did you forget?" Naru glared at them, though to no avail against the DWMA persons.

Professor Stein stared directly at Naru and Yasu. "To put it simply, both Lord Death and I can see your souls."

"What?!" Yasu shouted, and Naru looked just as taken back, both of them literally taking a step away from the mad doctor.

Said doctor smiled almost cruelly, his hand reaching up to turn the screw in his head. "Yes, you will be laid bare before Lord Death and before me. I wonder what he'll think of your souls… yes… I almost feel like peaking now. But I'll wait. But keep this in mind, you two. The things that we can do here are far beyond that of anything you knew possible. Are you ready?"

I took one look at the two SPR boys and decided that _no they so were_ _not ready_ for this _at all_.

Regardless, we continued on.

That's about when we heard a yell, a crash, a boom, and saw a boy crash through the wall in front of us.

_**SOULS**_

… **Eh, the best ending out of all the ones I had up before.**

**Trust me, I know they are OOC. I'll try to deal with that in the future as to their basic non-reactions to the whole 'major secret hey I'm actually a deadly weapon' thing. Right now, even after the hours that have passed, they're a little shocked.**

…**. I need serious help with their uniforms. I'm not convinced I did a good job. Heeeeelllllpppppp mmmmmeeeee! Please for the sake of their fashion sense send in suggestions. I don't hate what I gave them, but they could probably do better. A lot better…**

**Also, any plot ideas are useful. I have a fair idea of how I want this to go, but, uh, it's about as developed as 'the potato's skin is brown', if that makes sense to you. So, yeah. Uniforms and ideas would be **_**marvelous**_**.**

**UNTIL NEXT TIME, FRIENDS! (AND HOPEFULLY IT WON'T BE FOR NEARLY A YEAR.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I DID NOT REALIZE I UPDATED THIS STORY THE SAME DAY I INITIALLY PUBLISHED THIS.**

**I DID NOT FIND THIS OUT UNTIL FIVE MINUTES AFTER I UPDATED. HOLY SHIZNOZZLES.**

**IT WAS AN UNEXPECTED AND AWESOME SURPRISE.**

**SO I WROTE THIS. **

***** IF YOU DID NOT NOTICE CHAPTER THREE UPDATING, GO READ IT FIRST. MAKE SURE YOU READ CHAPTER THREE.*****

*****I repeat **_**MAKE SURE YOU READ CHAPTER THREE FIRST**__**.**_*******

**Without further ado… I don't own either of these series.**

**PLEASE ENJOY!**

_**SOULS**_

The boy that fell through the wall looked up mildly startled, his glasses—goggles?—slightly askewer on his face, two sleek stands of hair shot out of the sides of his otherwise bald head. He picked up a nearby staff that I recognized as _not _his partner and brushed himself off before looking rather annoyed into the classroom he literally got blown out of. I think he tutored me once or something, but I just couldn't remember his name.

"Congratulations Black*Star. You managed to break more school property," the boy said haughtily. "Then again, what else could I expect from you?"

"Shut up Ox!" a familiarly irritating voice shouted from in the room. "You're the one that went through the wall!"

"Because you hit me with your soul strike whatever thing!" the boy now identified and remembered as Ox yelled back, obviously ticked. That's when he noted the six people standing in the hallway. "Oh, hello. Nice to see you're back Professor Stein and Death Scythe," he greeted, his face relaxing slightly.

"Likewise," Death Scythe said. "So what just happened here?"

Ox's face became irritated once again. "Black*Star happened."

Another boy came out of the hole in the wall. "Who are you—oh, hey Professor," the blue haired boy said. "Who are these guys?" Great. Black*Star. I feel sorry for Naru and Yasu. I had hoped that maybe they wouldn't have to meet him… wonderful.

Then again, none escaped Black*Star when in the DWMA.

None.

"Black*Star, you remember Mei and Mai, right?" Death Scythe said, pointing to me and my brother. We bowed slightly in respect before staying perfectly quiet and still. The less you said to Black*Star, the easier he was to escape. At least, sometimes. It worked on occasion…

Black*Star looked at us for a moment before responding. "Yeah, I remember them. One of them went to Japan or something, right?"

Professor Stein nodded. "That's right."

"So who are the other two?" Ox asked, looking at Yasu and Naru warily.

Death Sycthe looked at Naru and Yasu, silently communicating with them to be still and not move. At all. "The dark haired one is Naru and the one with glasses is Yasu, right Mai?" Death Scythe said, apparently either only vaguely remembering introductions or just keeping it quick.

In response, Mei and I said, "Yes," in unison. What can I say, we were very committed to our creepy little act.

"As much as I'd _love_ to continue chatting," Professor Stein said sarcastically, "we have to get to Lord Death's room."

"Really?" Ox asked. "Maka and Soul just left for there. I think they're going on a mission or something."

"Which means we may want to wait," Death Scythe concluded.

We stood there with no one saying anything for a few seconds until a feminine voice came from the classroom. "What's taking so long, Black*Star?" a tall, dark-haired girl said as she stepped in the hall via the hole in the wall. It was Black*Star's weapon partner, Tsubaki.

"Ah, it's just Professor Stein and some new students or something," Black*Star waved her off. "No one of importance to a great star like me."

And then he started laughing. I know I call Naru a narcissist, hence the name, but at least he wasn't Black*Star. Sure, Black*Star isn't really that horrible, I just had trouble taking him and his attitude in large doses. Unfortunately, anything longer than ten minutes was a 'large dose' with Black*Star.

Professor Stein ignored correcting the new students thing in favor of sighing and trying to move on. "As much as I'd like to talk, I've got to get these guys to Lord Death regardless of any meetings going on right now. We do have a slight time window and I'm not too sure how long that window is," he said, rolling forward and somehow avoiding getting tripped up in his chair by the rubble.

"Oh, right," Death Scythe said before turning back and waving my brother, me, and the two SPR investigators forward. "Come on guys," he said before turning to the blue-haired idiot and his extremely patient partner. "See you guys later, Tsubaki, Black*Star."

"Goodbye, Mr. Death Scythe," Tsubaki bowed.

"Later teach!" Black*Star chuckled before ducking into the classroom again, Tsubaki following after him.

"Goodbye, professors," Ox said as he too went into the classroom, staff in hand. It must have been some sort of weapon partner-less weapon practice day.

Or something.

Our little group managed to round the corner before Yasu spoke up. "Is that, uh, normal? Kids just getting thrown through walls?" he said, perhaps just a tad shaken—though given everything else, it wasn't too horrible a shock.

"By our school standards, not exactly. By Black*Star's? Definitely," Death Scythe said from beside Professor Stein. "Just be glad you didn't meet the teacher. Isn't Sid still covering for that class?"

"Yes," Professor Stein said before leading us down another turn.

Wait, wasn't Sid a zombie or something now…?

Yeah, definitely thankful he decided to stay in.

Today was rough enough as is, and last time SPR had to deal with zombies didn't exactly go to well…

Regardless, we pressed on.

_**SOULS**_

**So it's a little shorter than last chapter… And not a whole lot happens. Sorry. **

**You should know that a double update has happened a total of never in the history of me writing. Never.**

**So, yeah. Uniform ideas and plot ideas definitely appreciated.**

**UNTIL NEXT TIME, FRIENDS!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, I'm full of ham and felt like updating despite the fact that I think my school may be trying to kill me. **

**Well, anyway, this was suggested/kinda planned (as planned as anything ELSE in this story is, I mean) and thus here we are.**

**I'm sorry it's short, but I'm a bit exhausted and a little sick myself. **

**In other news, those of you who read Blind, I got a lot of work done. It's not ready yet, but I think… I had about… hmm… Fourteen minutes done. Subtract about two for the outro… with a total of twenty-two minutes… I've got about six minutes left… And then proofreading… And adding and editing in the manga and the novel… Then the final read through… Send me strength. And patience. I'll need it. *cries***

**I don't own either series.**

**ENJOY!**

_**SOULS**_

Lin _hated _being sick.

Absolutely despised it.

He didn't get sick often, thankfully for him, and he usually recovered quickly from usually a very mild cold at worst.

Still, even that was a bit much. And this illness, well, it wasn't a mild cold.

No, it was a freaking flu.

Japan was trying to kill him, Lin just _knew_ it.

So, it had rather escaped his notice that his charge hadn't called him the previous day like he was supposed to… well, until now, that is. See, there was a case that required attention and, having already accepted a contract time before the invasion of germs set itself upon all of the SPR staff, Naru was forced to take the only other two healthy members, Yasuhara and Taniyama.

Now that he thought about it, Lin realized he was roughly… 90 percent sure that not a single one of those three had a license. Didn't they agree that Yasu was driving? Yasu surely didn't have a license…

Oops. They probably made it alive.

… Probably.

Lin, being a diligent worker despite the illness that was seriously messing with his head, started trying to contact the wayward three. Okay, maybe just Naru because a-there was no way Mai was getting his number and b-there was _DEFINITELY_ no way _Yasu_ was getting his number. But still, he _was_ trying to contact them

The problem was, Naru wasn't answering. Naru absolutely hated the ringtone on his phone, if only so he'd actually bother to formally decline a call to stop the ringing, so the fact that he was letting it ring continuously was a little…. troubling.

However, Lin was still disease ridden and had quite frankly forgotten how many times he had called Naru and each time he woke back up from a nap it took at least three calls for Lin to remember that he had _already_ called the younger man.

His head cleared a little, and Lin took a deep breath over a cup of tea. "Naru left… yesterday. They should have made it by now…" Lin said to himself, his voice having a funny ring to it due to a rather stuffy nose. "So why hasn't Naru called?"

Truth was, Naru _might_ have forgotten his charger with his equipment and _might_ have forgotten that he should probably contact someone about this. With Naru's phone now dead and pickpocketed by Stein after he became aware of its existence, it would probably be a while before any contact would be made.

But Lin, of course, was not privy to this information.

"Maybe I should call the professor," Lin muttered, a yawn stretching past his throat. A war waged within him, thus leaving his body, AKA the fierce battered battle ground, utterly exhausted.

The Chinese man decided that perhaps after a nap, things would be clearer.

Too bad he has done this _exact same thing _roughly… three times now, evidenced by the various tea boxes, tea pots, tea sets, and tea cups with their little tea saucers now crowding the small countertop and table.

And if Lin thought he was fairing badly, he ought to see the other sick members. Compared to them, he was ready to run a marathon. He might run it the wrong way, but he could probably make it, especially compared to the others.

Monk was being babied by his (mostly sympathetic, partially looking for blackmail and favors) bandmates.

Masako was acting like a sleeping princess until the attendants went away. Then she started the most ungodly sick snores ever. She might have cared, if she actually remembered doing it currently.

Ayako… Doctor parents. In other words, being well taken care of if not being completely and utterly useless at the moment.

Madoka would have stayed with Lin but opted to being miserable on her own in her room with a water bottle and roughly a year's supply of chicken soup and a microwave.

John… well, the priest's wife was caring over him, with the priest occasionally giving a prayer of support for the young Australian.

Unfortunately, the Aussie kept talking in English, forgetting that he was supposed to be speaking Japanese, and leaving the well-meaning couple confused as to what to do with him and any of his requests.

Needless to say, it'd most likely be a while yet before Naru, Yasu, and Mai's disappearance would be truly noticed.

_**SOULS**_

**I don't know about you guys, but I'm useless when I'm sick.**

**I also forget a lot about myself when I'm sick and often forget how long I **_**was**_** sick.**

**Like… For the longest time I thought I had food poisoning for a full two weeks.**

**Turns out it was only about one full week.**

**Still sucked. Probably should have gone to the hospital, but I was also at another relatives and something about worrying about insurance and… yeah I was mostly just sort of dying and subsisting on Gatorade (has electrolytes and doesn't taste awful like Pedialyte—which is what I originally had to drink, until my wonderful sister pointed out Gatorade had those things) and the occasional cracker sleeve. I didn't really care where I was…**

**Did I mention I had to survive a two hour road trip to their OTHER house when this happened?**

**Exactly zero percent fun and do not recommend it at all.**

**Anyway, you guys probably don't care about that, so…**

**UNTIL NEXT TIME, FRIENDS!**


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